Dave Kanipe received a bachelor’s and master’s in aerospace engineering from Texas A&M University in May 1970 and August 1971, respectively. He then accepted a position with NASA at the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas, beginning in November 1972. A month after his arrival at NASA, Apollo 17 was launched. While that was exciting, the commencement of the Space Shuttle Program in November 1972 was to have a far larger impact on his life. As a result, Kanipe began his professional career working on what he says was the most interesting and exciting project he could possibly imagine: the space shuttle. While the space shuttle was a priority, over the course of his career Kanipe worked on numerous NASA projects and programs, including crewed and robotic spacecraft, as well as the International Space Station. He held successively influential management positions in the Engineering Directorate at the Johnson Space Center culminating in his selection as chief of the Aeroscience and Flight Mechanics Division. On December 31, 2010 Kanipe retired from NASA after more than 38 years of service. Following his retirement, the head of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M, asked him to teach a senior capstone design course focusing on spacecraft design. He began teaching in the fall of 2011 and became an associate professor of practice in September 2013. Unfortunately, persistent health issues led to his retirement at the end of December 2016. He lectures occasionally at the request of individual professors.